Sydney's Red Dust Storm: Photographic Spectacular

Imagine waking up and the world was red. People talk about their very first thoughts that morning and frequently use the words Mars and Armageddon. Sirens and noises were blaring from all directions, as police, firemen and paramedics were sent all across town. My Brother, a pilot in training said his first conscious thought was “I will never fly again”, thinking he had developed colour blindness overnight.

The people of Sydney and the Eastern states of Australia woke up on September 23rd 2009 to a different world. The usually bright and clear harbour city was clogged with 47 million tonnes of red dirt that had been swept across the country from the red centre. It was a phenomenon that we will probably, hopefully never see again in our lifetime.

People complained about their cars, homes and lungs being infiltrated and clogged by the dust. In the CBD 27,000 people failed to turn up for work, costing the city millions of dollars in productivity. They believe that the clean up bill will be in the tens of millions. Visibility was down to 100 meters, making travel difficult, dangerous, or simply impossible to us Sydneysiders who are not used to such things.

The happiest people in town were window cleaners, car wash café’s and photographers.  Alas, I was stuck 1300km away in Melbourne. But I saw those lucky ones. Professionals and amateurs alike, they lined the streets and the harbour, savouring that once in a lifetime field day.  Oh how I envied them.

Fortunately, we were struck by a second storm two days later. It was far less intense than the first, and cleared quickly... but oh, the light. Such beautiful light. For an hour or two the world was pink and the light incandescent, iridescent blue.  Below are my best four. The colour is very true to the world as it was that day.



While I missed out on the great storm, the trusty DA community did not let us down, and many captured the magic that they witnessed in their back yard. I’ve assembled a collection of such works, and hopefully you can all share the awe that was felt that day.

Please note that these images have not been edited for colour. Several people posted ‘before and afters’, which I’ve included below and may help explain how so many people woke up to a foreign world.

The Best


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Before & after
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